It will entirely depend on how players like Leetch and Richards, or any former player really, looks at analytics.
Just because they are a former player doesn't mean they're against analytics or against looking at the game from a different perspective.
But it's hard to gauge that, I think. Each person is different and we simply aren't privy to that kind of stuff regularly.
In a theoretical scenario: For an advisor role, like the ones I guess Leetch and Richards are getting, who would you rather hire?
- Former player who doesn't like analytics
- Former player who is open using analytics and experience together
- Non-pro player who only has analytics in their advising arsenal
You take the second option. The guy who is willing to use all tools. No contest there. You can't get by on experience or analytics alone.
But like I said, we don't know if that's what we're getting. Are we getting a former player who says "**** that analytics BS" or are we getting a former player who says "We can use analytics as well as the personal experience I learned from being in the NHL for 10+ years. There is some overlap here."